Stuffed grapes!?

I'm browsing through an old (new to me) recipe book by the late Isabel Jones, a lady I always admired for her enthusiasm for both cooking and keeping the consumer informed of the ways in which retailers con us. Whenever I have a spat with the local supermarket, I fancy myself standing in her shoes, carrying on the tradition!

I came across a recipe (instructions, really) for, believe it or not, stuffed grapes. Now I have always maintained that life is too short to stuff a sardine, let alone a mushroom (although Isabel disagrees with my viewpoint), and the thought of stuffing a grape makes the mind boggle. Picture the scene:

First peel the grape (it will give a better texture when biting than if the skin is still on, I suppose). You are then left with a wet, very small piece of fruit which must then be de-pipped. This is achieved by inserting a hairpin into the hole where the stalk came out. You need glasses to locate a hole that size if you are of more advanced years. Once successfully de-pipped (remember there are two), you then fill a piping bag with a mixture of smooth cottage cheese, herbs and pepper. Then comes the fun part - grasp the grape between finger and thumb and pipe (yes, pipe!) the mixture into the hole that the pips came out of, leaving a neat rosette to cover the hole.

I would imagine it takes the better part of a day to make enough for a reasonable platter. If you smear the rosette, you can just wash it off under the tap and start again, presumably.Each grape then needs to be stood upright in a little cupcake holder such as you use for fancy chocolates.

I would have loved to be able to watch her demonstrate this.